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The Rise and Fall of Muammar Qadhafi By: Joanne Robery

How the process of colonialism and decolonization has played a major role in the rise and fall of Libya's MU'ammar Qadhafi.

Introduction

Discussion

Conclusion

Illustrations Appendix

Resources Used

Table of Contents

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Introduction

The process of colonialism/decolonization has played a major role in the rise and fall of

Libya's Muammar Qadhafi. Qadhafi rose to power on September 15\ 1969 when he and his

regime decided to take action and overthrow the government in a military coup to take control.

Qadhafi made the country a "pro-Arabic, anti-western, Islamic republic with socialist

leanings"("SomaliPress.com" August 4, 2008). He ruled Libya for forty two years up until the

defeat of his forces at the hands of the rebels in a civil war this year (2011). It is hard to

distinguish at what point during this war that he lost control of his country.

Discussion

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Libya was first colonized by Italy in 1911, and Italian jurisdiction was later recognized in

1912. There were two Italian colonies put in place, called Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (Harmon

2004). You can see how Libya was broken up into these colonized areas on map I in the

illustrations annex. "Thousands of Italians moved to Libya, and the Italian military made

ferocious attempts to wipe out the Arabs" (Willis 2009). The Libyan people fought the Italians

off the best that they could, but Italy succeeded in gaining control over most of the country in

1914. Most of the native peoples were killed off or banished during this time.

In the l 920's and 30's, the Italian government spent large sums of money on building

roads, developing towns and schools, and on agriculture ("SomaliPress.com" August 4, 2008).

"The few positive changes under Italian rule were mostly intended to help the Italian settlers"

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(Willis 2009). In October of 1922, Benito "Mussolini and the Fascists seized control of the

Italian government" ("Libyan History: Italian Colonization (1911-42)" June 22, 2009). Under

Mussolini's leadership, a "program of Italian immigration called 'demographic colonization"'

("SomaliPress.com" August 4, 2008) was launched in 1935. Under this plan, "he [Mussolini]

shipped many thousands of Italians- including criminals and very poor people to Tripolitania and

Cyrenaica" (Sanders 2001) and "by the outbreak of World War II in 1939, some 150,000 Italians

had settled in Libya. They made up 18 percent of the country's total population"(Sanders 2001 ).

During this time, many resistance groups arose to try to overthrow the Italians. One such

group was called the Sunasi fighters. The leader of this group was Oman al-Makhtar, who lead

teams in raids on Italian outposts using guerilla war tactics. "After 20 years, the Italians finally

hunted down, captured, and executed the freedom fighter in 1931, when he was a very old man"

(Sanders 2001 ). The people of Libya now consider Oman al-Makhtar a hero.

Giuseppe Volpe was sent to Libya in 1922 by the fascist government in Italy to put a stop

to the resistance to the Italian governance of Libya. The Libyans demanded independence with a

Muslim leader and threatened military action if this demand was not met. Volpe thought the

only solution to this, while maintaining the Italian colony, was to implement a direct rule. He

had approximately 15,000 troops under his command which he used to launch a campaign to

regain control of Libya (Simmons 1996). Libya was soon brought under control, although it took

some years to accomplish this.

A man named Muhammad Idris, as shown in figure 2 of the illustrations annex, was a

prominent figure in Libya during this time. He had a large amount of power due to his position

as chief of the Sanusi Muslim Sufi Order. He was the "leader of the Libyan resistance

movement against Italy" (Willis 2009). In 1922, he was exiled from Libya and worked out of

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Egypt as his base, and it was there that "he formed a Libyan army in Cairo and joined with the

remaining Sanusi forces in Cyrenaica to support the British against the Germans and Italians,

who were using Libya as a base during their attempt to gain control of Egypt. Much fierce

fighting occurred in the hostile desert around the border between Egypt and Libya" (Sanders

2001).

Once the Axis powers were defeated and driven out by the Allies in February of 1943,

Libya came under control of the United Nations. The UN debated over the next four years as to

what should happen with the country, and won November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly J

passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952"

("Background Note: Libya" July 7, 2011). "With the help of the United Nations and British and

French advisors, Libya drew up a constitution. In 1950, a national assembly of the Libyan

people overwhelmingly chose Idris .... to rule the new nation" (Sanders 2001) and on December

24, 1951, King Muhammad Idris I declared Libya as an independent country, where the tribal

areas ofTripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan were all united as one.

Under King Idris I's rule, the government that formed was a monarchy. He was tolerant

of the western countries, and "welcomed British and American military bases into Libya"

(Malcolm 1996). "This not only brought in 'rent' revenue but also provided the fledgling nation

with a degree of international security .... nevertheless, many inside his own country considered

King Idris to be too pro-Western" (Harmon 2004).

During King Idris' rule "in 1959, the U.S oil company Esso (which later became

ExxonMobil) discovered large petroleum deposits in the Cyrenaica region of Libya" (Sullivan

2009). After this find, the income from the sale of the oil allowed Libya, which was one of the

poorest countries in the world, to become one of the wealthiest. 11 Although oil drastically

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improved Libya's finances, popular'tesentment grew as wealth was increasingly concentrated in

the hands of the elite" ("Background Note: Libya" July 7, 2011). Thus, as the leaders and upper

class became richer, the poor remained poor, and "this discontent continued to mount with the

rise throughout the Arab world ofNasserism and the idea of Arab unity" ("Background Note:

Libya" July 7, 2011).

While the oil was being extracted, most of the profit went to the companies from the U.S

and Great Britain because they were the ones who owned the oil wells in Libya. Because of this,

the Libyan people felt that they were not receiving their fair share of the money, and were

discontent, and many "placed blame for the nation's economic problems on King lrdis' corrupt,

bureaucratic government" (Sullivan 2009). "By the late 1960's the country was ripe for a radical

change in leadership. A number of factions within the Libyan military, the business community,

and even the royal establishment were poised for an opportunity to seize power" (Harmon 2004).

This race for control over the government of Libya is where Maummar Qadhafi took the

opportunity to gain control.

Maummar Qadhafi was born into a family of poor nomads in the desert, where they

raised and herded goats and camels. While he was young, many of his family members fought

against the Italians and died, thus making him grow opposed to the Western countries and their

customs. "While attending high school in Sabha, Qaddafi began to recruit secret 'cells' of

students with the plan to overthrow the Libyan monarchy. The plan leaked and Qaddafi was

expelled for 'treasonable behavior'.,'. .. he attended another school, graduated with honors, and

entered the University of Libya. There, he continued to conjure up plans to overthrow the king"

(Malcolm 1996). He graduated with a degree in law, and from there he joined the army. He

recruited more followers to his cause, and "with most of Libya's 7,000 strong army already

sympathetic to the revolutionary cause" (Malcolm 1996).

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At first, Qadhafi made sure that he and his men took control over the oil wells because he

knew that the revenue from them brought in a considerable amount of money, and his second

mission was to get the word of the revolution he was leading out to the people. At 6 A.M on

September 151, 1969, four hours before Qadhafi would launch his coup, he "sent out a radio

message to the Libyan people. He said 'In response to your own will, fulfilling you most

heartfelt wishes, answering your incessant demands for change and regeneration and your

longing to strive towards these ends, listening to your incitement to rebel, your armed forces

have undertaken the overthrow of the reactionary and corrupt regime, the stench of which has

sickened and horrified us all "'(Sullivan 2009). Qadhafi was only 27 years old when he lead his

supporters and overthrew the Libyan government. "He had three unshakeable obsessions:

revolution, Islam, and Arab unity" (Malcolm, 1996), and another main goal of his was to

redistribute the wealth among the people.

"Once Qaddafi took power, changes happened quickly. He renamed the country the

Libyan Arab Republic and shut down all the agencies of the old government" (Willis 2009). He

also "espoused his own political system - a combination of socialism and Islam - which he called

the Third International Theory" ("Libya" 2011 ). When he took control of the oil companies, he

demanded that they give Libya 51 % of the profits, and also had ties cut with the U.S and Britain.

He "instituted new laws designed to enforce strict Muslim and Arab customs. He gave orders to

arrest women who wore pants or short skirts and men with long hair" (Sanders 2001 ). Qadhafi

exiled all those who posed as a threat, and implemented the death sentence for punishment upon

anyone who went against him politically, and forbade strikes. Under his government, he put in

place the law of Islam, known as Shari' ah law.

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During his rule, Qadhafi violated many of his people's human rights and supported

terrorist liberation movements with money and troops. The liberation movements he supported

included the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the ET A in Spain, the Irish Republican Army

in Northern Ireland, and "Japanese and Philippine revolutionaries" (Hannon 2004) just to name a

few. "In March 1986 he ordered Libyan air missiles to strike American warships for crossing the

"Line of Death", a boundary line he drew in international waters in the Gulf of Sidra" (Sanders

2001). A month later, American fighter planes bombed "mili tary targets in Tripoli after

receiving evidence of responsibi lity for bombing several European airports at a West Berlin

disco" (Sanders 200 1). His fa ilure to conquer the Americans cost him much of his eminence

among his own people, "some of whom had already lost fa ith in his regime" (Sanders 2001 ). His

losses were both personal and political. Many Western countries took action against Libya. The

US banned all oil imports from them, and the U.S. State Department canceled out US passports

for travel to Libya. Australia also cut off all tics with Libya due to all the uprising and trouble

they were causing.

On December 21, 1988, another terrorist attack caused by Libya occurred to Pan Am Flight 103

that was "heading from London's Heathrow International Airport to New York Kennedy

International Airport" (Zalman 2011). The plane exploded "en route over Lockerbie Scotland"

(Zalman 2011) and the explosion killed all passengers and crew on board (259 total, 189 of those

were American citizens). "Investigations determined that Semtex, a plastic explosive, was the

cause of the aircraft's shattering. The explosives were wired to a device that measured barometric

pressure connected to a timer. These were placed inside a portable radio/cassette player, and

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packed in a regular suitcase" (Zalman 2011) that was then brought aboard the plane. Two men

were responsible for this bombing belonged to the Abu Nidal Terrorist organization. Only after

years of the U .S battling with Libya to give up the two criminals, they did and on May 3, 2000,

the two suspects were brought to the Netherlands to be tried and convicted. In addition, "Libya

accepted responsibility for the attacks and agreed to pay victims' families compensation"

(Zalman 2011) in 2003. Qadhafi's funding made terrorist attacks like this possible, thus

indirectly killing thousands of people over his forty-two year reign of Libya.

Qadhafi ruled his country very strictly according to the Islamic Shari 'ah law, and in his

ruling, violated the human rights of his people. Such violations included exiling all Jews from

Libya, making theft punishable by amputation of hands and adultery by lashes, and torturing his

prisoners. He also executed public dissidents, and then rebroadcasted the executions onto

Libyan state television channels. He banned all opposition to his rule (such as criminalizing the

formation of political parties), and forbade the Berber people from giving their children Berber

I.•,, ••

names and banned the use of the Berber language. On top of this, he also sent out assassins to

kill Libyans who had fled to live in other countries for freedom. One example of how serious

Qadhafi was with protecting his government and reputation was when "several prominent

Libyans living in Europe who had criticized the revolutionary leader and his policies were

assassinated ... by Libyan 'Death Squads ... (Sanders 2001). The people were very upset with

Qadhafi as they felt that he was taking their inalienable rights away from them.

Rebellion groups started to rise up against Qadhafi as early as the 1980's. "The most

famous was the May 1984 Bab Al-Aziziya Barracks coup when the National Front for the

Salvation of Libya, made up of military and civilian dissidents, played a leading role" (Sadiki

February 21, 2011). Another attempt to get rid of him was an assassination attempt in 1993.

"The most serious challenge against Gaddafi's authority came from the most populous and

powerful Libyan tribe, the Warfallah, in October 1993. The rebellion led to kangaroo trials in

1995 and many tribesmen were executed in 1997" (Sadiki February 21, 2011). Many people

continued to protest against Qadhafi since then.

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The largest protest against Maummar Qadhafi that would eventually lead to his downfall

started in February 2011. "Inspired by revolts in other Arab countries, including neighboring

Tunisia and Egypt, a rebellion breaks out" ("Key Events in the Libya Conflict" August 22, 2011)

in Tripoli and other major cities such as Benghazi and Misrata on February 15, 2011. "On Feb.

25, 2011, security forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi used gunfire to try to disperse thousands of

protesters who streamed out of mosques after prayers to mount their first major challenge to the

government's crackdown in Tripoli" ("Libya- Revolution and Aftermath (2011) " October 28,

2011 ). Thus, as the government turned to violence as a way to deal with the rebelling people,

the protestors started to move to violence themselves and form rebel groups to conduct attacks

against the government forces. The protests soon escalated into a wide spread rebellion across

the country.

In an interview conducted with Qadhafi on February 28, 2011 it states that he "said the

people who have taken over Benghazi in eastern Libya are terrorists and al Qaeda operatives. He

doesn't believe people are demonstrating against him anywhere in Libya, and repeated the

charge that those who are have been given hallucinogenic drugs- a claim he first made in his

televised speech broadcast [on February 27, 201 lr' (Amanpour February 28, 2011).

According to Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, she stated that

"when he [Muammar Qadhafi] can laugh in talking to American and international journalists

while he is slaughtering his own people, it only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how

disconnected he is from reality" (Amanpour February 28, 2011).

On March 31 si, 2011, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NA TO) "takes over

formal command of the military operation" ("Key Events in the Libya Conflict" August 22,

2011) and on May 151, 2011 they launch an air strike that Qadhafi escapes. The air strike kills

one of his sons, and three of his grandchildren.

On August 21 5\ 2011, the rebels entered Tripoli and were greeted by cheering crowds.

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They surrounded Qadhafi's Bab al-Azizia military compound and raided it through the north

gates. Despite previous reports suggesting that Qadhafi might be inside, no one was found in

there. The rebels claimed victory that day with the overthrow ofMaummar Qadhafi. The

following day, "US President Barack Obama said the Libyan 'tyrant' must leave now to avoid

further bloodshed while calling on the rebels to respect human rights, show leadership, preserve

the institutions of the state and move towards democracy" " ("Key Events in the Libya Conflict"

August 22, 2011).

On October 201h, 2011, Qadhafi 's "convoy was hit by NATO airstrikes but not destroyed

and he later was captured alive in his hometown of Sirte ... by revolutionary fighters" ("Video

Surfaces of Muammar Qaddafi's Final Moments With Revolutionaries Before Death" October

20, 2011). They shoved Qadhafi along with them, and he tried to resist the freedom fighters.

They soon shot him in the head, and he died. "After his death, Qaddafi's body was paraded

through the streets ofMisrata on top of a vehicle surrounded by a large crowd chanting, "The

blood of the martyrs will not go in vain," according to footage aired on Al-Arabi ya television.

The fighters who killed Qaddafi are believed to have come from Misrata, a city that suffered a

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brutal weeks-long siege by Qaddafi's forces during the eight-month civil war" (Video Surfaces of l, .• ••

Muammar Qaddafi's Final Moments With Revolutionaries Before Death" October 20, 2011).

"Abdel-Jalil Abdel-Aziz, a doctor who accompanied the body in the ambulance and

examined it, said Qaddafi died from two bullet wounds -- to the head and chest" ("Video

Surfaces of Muammar Qaddafi's Final Moments With Revolutionaries Before Death" October

20, 2011 ). They wanted Qadhafi alive for trail, but the people are happy and think it is better off

that he is now dead.

"Celebratory gunfire and cries of 'God is great' rang out across Tripoli. Motorists honked

and people hugged each other. In Sirte, the ecstatic former rebels celebrated the city's fall after

weeks of fighting by firing endless rounds into the sky, pumping their guns, knives and even a

meat cleaver in the air and singing tl;ie, national anthem" ("Video Surfaces of Muammar

Qaddafi's Final Moments With Revolutionaries Before Death" October 20, 2011).

Conclusions

When the Italians first colonized Libya, they imposed their will on the people, and made

them abide by their laws. Then King Idris was chosen by the Italians to take over, and was a

proxy of the Italian government. He was seen as representing Italy. Then when Qadhafi took

over, he looked better than King Idris at first and seemed like a better leader, but then Qadhafi

started implementing his own rule on the people, similar to the Italians implementing their own

rule. Qadhafi's death was the last step in the decolonization of Libya because the people are now

in the process of creating a democratic state that represents the people's will.

fezzan­Ghadames

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I -- -·"' · Photo I

''Video Surfaces of Muammar Qaddafi's Final Moments With Revolutionaries Before Death" October 20, 20 I I).

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Photo 2 Muhammed February 22, 2011) This Photo shows Muhammad lrdis sitting in a chair for his picture to be taken.

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